Sacred Earth founder, Phil Greenwood
Phil Greenwood is co-manager and head steward for Sacred Earth’s 40 acre land project near Horam in East Sussex and delivers various education programmes which have a focus on deep nature connection throughout the county. Phil is treasurer for the newly formed Sacred Earth Community Benefit Society and is also project manager of our Biochar initiative.
Hello, my name is Philip Greenwood. I am the Founder of Sacred Earth, I am a group facilitator, a teacher, a nature guide, a change agent, an outdoor education specialist, and a naturalist. More recently my life’s work has led me to become an Earth and Culture Restoration Specialist and Connection Coach that support healthy living systems, and healthy life for all.
My current roles for The Community Benefit Society are many and include Land and Woodland Manager, Treasurer and Fundraiser, Lead Education, Courses and Events Director plus at times specializations like Bio-Char Technician.
I have spent over 20 years working with young people in nature, I am trained in various Biodynamic, Arboriculture, and Horticulture practices. I have studied, practiced and taught the core routines of nature connection and advanced shamanic and connection practices from both the British Isles and other indigenous cultures around the world. I have worked in various roles in my life in service to something, these include my young adulthood as a Royal Marine Commando, working as an outdoor guide in Canada and various conservation expeditions. By experiencing much of the world through travel, I am understanding of what is needed for a healthy human culture to exist well on this beautiful blue planet that we all live on. This has all come to fruition within Sacred Earth as I bring all my skills and experience to a wonderful restoration project.
I am also currently a steering group member of the UK Nature Culture Network and part of the 8 Shields Global movement, alongside this, I also integrate work as a helper and student for Helpers Mentoring Society based in the USA. With deep gratitude for life and all the teachers that have helped me on this journey, I am able to bring all these attributes in service to All Our Relations through the medium of Sacred Earth.
Secretary of the CBS Management Committee, Libby Halford
Libby is Secretary of the CBS Management Committee, Elder and Mentor for Phoenix Facilitator Journey participants
I have always been interested in “Energy”. That which moves and transforms in a spiritual way. My Catholic-Christian upbringing would name it as the work of the Holy Spirit. It seemed more knowable than God and even as a child I was fascinated. Into my early 20s my interest expanded into the spiritual practices of eastern faiths, particularly meditation which I taught for a while. Returning to mainstream religion when my children came along I became a Eucharistic Minister, reader and liturgist, especially for the children of the parish.
In my 30s the healing power of plants began to come into my consciousness and I studied aromatherapy for a while. In my 40s I developed an interest in Tai Chi and Qigong – the development of energy and its movement around the body. In my 50s I became more interested in healing energy and trained to become a Reiki Master, working with crystals, chakras and auras….but I always had the sense that there was more ….
As I approached my 60s, post menopause, it was the Sacred Feminine which called to me and I spent a few years exploring the depth and beauty of my own feminine with Jewels Wingfield and then assisted her in this work. During this time I studied Practical Ethnobotany with John Rhyder and my fascination with plants really took off. The word Shamanic began to enter my world so I spent a few years delving deeply into the incredible world of the unseen with Leo Rutherford. Then I discovered Sacred Earth. Connection to nature and the energy of all living beings – the energy which unites.
Of course, I have had to earn a living which has involved working in a communications capacity for large companies and managing small ones, as well as some charities.
I am now approaching my 70s and its the role of Elder which is calling to me. Understanding the meaning of the word; horror at the lack of that deep holding energy for our young people; and joining with others of similar age and view to uncover that which has been lost to our society and rediscovering what it really means to be in service to the world.
Alongside plants, and my grandchildren, I have an emerging interest in sacred geometry and the art of storytelling.
Project Administrator, Lucinda Wells
Lucinda is a member of the Senior Leadership Team, supporting Phil she keeps the accounts, looks after bookings, our social media, website and is the point of contact for people to get in touch with us.
Hi, I am the Project Administrator at Sacred Earth. I love my work here; it gives me the opportunity to be surrounded by people who care about and support each other and the planet and to continually develop my skills and understanding. We really are a community. Before finding Sacred Earth I’d never camped! It is now one of my favourite things to do, along with the magic and beauty of Questing. I learned about these two liberating things in the supportive environment of Sacred Earth.
My training is rather broad, administration has been a constant along with teaching and facilitating people with their personal and creative development. I trained in experimental fine art, have a master’s degree in my specialism of experimental photography and video and was a senior lecturer and course leader in this subject at university for seventeen years. I still make and exhibit art. For more than thirty years I have practiced various forms of meditation, the last six of which includes studying advanced shamanic practices at Sacred Earth and with other teachers from around the world.
I dream of a world where we live sustainably in harmony and joy with each other and nature, working at Sacred Earth brings this dream closer.
Intern, Poppy Lewis Brown
Poppy is a member of our Senior Leadership Team and is our Intern
Hi I’m Poppy, one of the instructors at ESA and a member of the wider community here at Sacred Earth. I participated in the full three years of ESA and continued on to become an instructor and facilitator of nature connection here on the land and elsewhere.
My experience here was powerful due to the people I encoúntered who were facilitating the ESA course. I observed the way they were fully in connection with nature and themselves. They appeared to be truly happy and alive which inspired me as a young teen. Not only that but the work they were and still are doing to facilitate nature connection was transformational for me in all areas of my life, and moved me to help provide the same powerful connection for others. So it is an honour to be doing the same work today.
For me, nature connection flows the strongest through my life when I work with fire, especially fire-by-friction, a technique our ancestors long ago would have used. Sitting in nature and observing the movement of life during the changing of the seasons as well as on a day-to-day scale is also a fundamental point of connection for me, as well as learning plant lore and harvesting in an honourable way to make medicine and food from the landscape around me.
What I love most about working at ESA and in general as a facilitator of nature connection is the clear and obvious ways it benefits anyone who interacts with it, especially children, who thrive in nature and benefit from it greatly. Regaining knowledge and sovereignty in the context of nature connection and returning to the land and ourselves is a passion of mine and I hope to continue this work as those who came before me have done.
Suzy Greenwood – “Nature has always felt like my sanctuary”
Suzy has been actively involved with Sacred Earth since our inception in 2011. She joins the management committee of Sacred Earth Community Benefit Society as our Community Health and Wellbeing Officer, a role which is a perfect match for her wealth of skills and experience as a Physiotherapist, yoga teacher and holistic practitioner.
Nature has always felt like my sanctuary, a place to retreat to, to walk in, meet friends, play, forage and also to cultivate stillness and a quiet mind, a place where my mind, body and soul feels deeply connected to something bigger than myself.
Having travelled throughout Asia before going to University in the early 90’s I became really interested in Eastern spiritual philosophies, especially Buddhism and yoga. Whilst training as a physiotherapist in Manchester I also studied yoga and meditation. This led to me continuing my studies in India, where I completed yoga teacher training in 1999.
My fascination with how to keep the body and mind healthy has deepened and led to a diverse learning journey, studying cranio-sacral therapy, reiki healing, sports therapy, pilates, acupuncture and most recently life coaching. I have also run many yoga workshops, courses and retreats.
I feel that being ‘healthy’ is not a linear path, it is more of a diverse and colourful weaving between the mind, the physical body, the emotional self and the spiritual self. I believe it is vital to cultivate an attitude of gratitude, a positive and open mind state, a diet that is natural, organic and as seasonal and local as possible, making sure the physical body is kept healthy by regular exercise, a combination of cardio-vascular and body/mind practices and making sure there is some time for creativity, fun and play. If we ‘fall asleep’ and forget about looking after ourselves and connecting with each other I believe this is at the root of all disease, or ‘dis–ease’.
I am deeply blessed and grateful to be the wife of Phil, soul mate and founder of Sacred Earth and the lucky Muma to our daughter Gaia, both are the deepest joys of my life. My time is shared between mothering, working, running a home, supporting Sacred Earth, connecting with our wonderful community of friends and family and being as creative as possible, spinning wool, writing poems, lying under trees, practising yoga and meditation and trying to have less ‘doing’ in my life and finding more ‘being’ time!
Phil has always been the driving force behind Sacred Earth, however my beliefs have always been in alignment with his, with a wish to look after and care take an area of land, so that children may enjoy and receive the fruit from our efforts in the generations to come. Five years ago I was very involved with the initial set up of Sacred Earth Community Interest Company as well as bringing together many friends to begin forming our community at Sacred Earth. One of my gifts is that I love bringing people together, something magical happens when many like-minded souls come together. Over the years many people have joined hearts and hands and we have planted a fruit orchard, hundreds of trees, collected and dug out huge amounts of rubbish, cleared barbed wire, pathways and restored many areas to create wildlife havens, we have a bee sanctuary and have planted many bee friendly flowers, as well as many other care taking actions.
My actions feel like a drop in the ocean in relation to the destruction that is happening today in the world, how climate change is so damaging to our Earth, how consumerism is depleting our resources. However, at least I know I am part of something beyond myself and can help make changes in small ways and can teach my daughter to respect the Earth too and continue to make good conscious choices through my actions.
At Sacred Earth today we have a fantastic group of committed people passionate about being in nature, being part of something bigger than themselves. Phil is managing the land, tending to the trees, coppicing, running a Biochar operation and offering educational courses. Alice is a herbalist and is growing herbs on the land and offering a herbal box scheme. Emile, the farmer, tends to his pigs and chickens, producing delicious eggs. Ollie is project managing and offering Ecotherapy. Annemarie is growing willow and runs basketmaking courses. Mark and Vicky join Phil in running nature connection adventures and activities for all ages, and Roger watches over us all with benevolence and loving kindness. There is space for more people to get involved, people who are also passionate about being in nature, coming together and wishing to make a difference now and for the future, whether that is simply to join on one of our volunteer days or to set up a small cottage industry like wood carving.
Life inspires me. I feel so blessed to have been born at this time, however painful and beautiful it is every day. I need to trust life. I need to stay connected. I need to pay attention to my needs so that I can be in service to others in an authentic way. I need my blood family around me and my soul family to connect regularly to and I wish to offer my gifts to the world – the ones I have been blessed to discover. I wish to keep exploring in case there are any more.
Suzy currently works as an integrative physiotherapist at a complementary health centre in Brighton and a doctor’s surgery in Herstmonceaux. She teaches weekly yoga classes in Brighton and run regular workshops throughout the year.
Jim Morgan
Jimmy Morgan is a member of our CBS Management Committee
I am passionate about helping people immerse themselves more deeply in nature to help improve their health and mental wellbeing and a deeper connection to nature.
I am an eco therapist, outdoor life coach, forest therapy guide and facilitator of nature and wellbeing programs and transformative wilderness journeys and nature quests.
I am trained in Ecotherapy with the Tariki Trust 10 Directions programme and accredited ICF transformative personal life coach trained with Animas.
I also help co facilitate nature quests with Way of Nature and trained with them as a wilderness nature quest guide.
I am a mental health coach, Breathworks facilitator and embodied meditation teacher.
I love walking , wild swimming and mindful photography in nature and you will find me wandering and taking care of Ardingly Reservoir and the beautiful nature reservoir
Nature mentor Victoria Mew
My name is Victoria Mew and I’ve lived twenty-eight summers. I grew up in south west London. My childhood was pretty mainstream. When I was twelve my mother took my siblings and I on a Trackways family survival camp. This was a significant experience in my young life – it changed my relationship to the world. It was the first time ever that I’d slept out next to a fire, that I’d gathered enough long grass to create the roof of our lean-to shelter, the first time I saw a tiny ember being created by rubbing sticks together. I was in touch with what was essential to life. I was hooked.
Throughout my teens I continued to connect to nature through these ancient skills and this lineage both with Trackways here in the UK and with Coyote Trails, Tom Brown Junior’s Tracker School and eventually Wilderness Awareness School in the USA. These experiences felt anchoring and incredibly empowering during my otherwise somewhat turbulent adolescence. Whilst my peers were debating what make-up to wear and how to get a hold of alcohol, I felt I was in on the secret of life and why I was here on the Earth and I felt incredibly grateful for it.
After school I spent a year at the Wilderness Awareness School in Washington State where I deepened my connection to nature, gained an immense amount of self confidence and felt valued as part of the learning community there. This nine month programme culminated in a weeklong survival quest in the Cascades – an experience I’ll never forget.
It was a shock to my system to transition back to the UK and find myself starting university at UCL in central London. Instead of waking up to birdsong, I was awoken by sirens flying past at all hours of the night. I spent my study time here delving into diverse subjects and my third year focussed on the question of how separation from nature affects childhood development. The papers I read when researching this for my dissertation confirmed everything I’d felt up to this point. Connecting to nature has nothing but enriching and positive effects, psychologically, physiologically and socially. It affects all aspects of our development and wellbeing. I’d bet if everyone in Britain spent just thirty minutes of quality time each day outside we’d drastically reduce the financial crisis facing the NHS!
Vicky demonstrating the bow drill at this year’s Community Crafts Camp
Following university I did some exploring and adventuring in the wilder parts of Britain until an old friend called Phil Greenwood invited me to become part of a monthly programme for teenagers: the Earth Steward Apprenticeship. The way Phil described the programme was exactly what I would have wanted in my teenage years and I gratefully accepted his invitation, settled in Sussex, became part of the teaching team and have been involved ever since.
Through my work with Phil on the ESA programme I got involved with Sacred Earth in the early days as a Director when Sacred Earth Community Interest Company was formed in 2011. It was simple for me, everything in the vision was aligned with what I wanted to see more of in the world: the planting of a community orchard, getting more people in touch with growing food, supporting local food resilience, caretaking the land with the whole ecosystem in mind, and of course the opportunity for nature connection for people of all ages.
We have of course faced challenges along our way with what we are co-creating at Sacred Earth, but the original vision in essence has not changed, it has only been enriched by the joining of other like-minded individuals and the commitment of all who have been involved thus far. Through our community share offer we are inviting new energy into the project and investment in certain aspects and this feels exciting.
Some of things created at this year’s Community Crafts Camp
For me, other than my involvement with ESA, I find myself busy with other nature connection programmes at various sites with a variety of groups including schools, home education, holiday camps, adults and monthly woodland mentoring. I’m constantly learning and growing myself as well as facilitating learning experiences for others. This past summer I ran a Community Craft Camp that was one of the most rich and enjoyable events I’ve been inspired to run to date. I love what I do and I feel it is of particular value at this time of disconnection.
In gratitude to Phil for inviting me into his vision and into this opportunity and to all the many people and their wonderful hands that have helped clear the rubbish off the land, pull ragwort, plant trees, create willow beds, dig potatoes, produce bio-char, sat still in the woods and listened to the birds and found beauty in nature.
